Gilbert. Old school or new?

Asked if he has changed his preparations in any way after two underwhelming seasons, the Belgian replied “No, it’s pretty much the same.” The follow-up question referenced teammate Greg Van Avermaet’s statement that the training at BMC has indeed changed but Gilbert dismissed the idea.

Well, it struck us that either Gilbert was unwilling to admit he’d been forced to change his training or just didn’t want to alert his rivals or worse — was simply ignoring the new directives on training — which seems highly unlikely and foolish.

Its been clear to all the riders at BMC that everything has changed since Allan Peiper took over the show, set clear expectations and overhauled the entire structure of the team. Cadel Evans, Taylor Phinney, Tejay van Garderen, Van Avermaet, Thor Hushovd — they all say it’s like being on a new team and they love the improvements.

So what’s up with Gilbert and training?

Because the fact is, Peiper also put him on notice with the “step up or step out” directive he issued the whole squad. Back in October, Peiper told Het Nieuwsblad “Gilbert is an old school cyclist. He has never even had a trainer before but the cycling world is changing.”

Like, duh.

Again, we quote from a cyclingnews story and Peiper’s take: “I discussed the past season with Philippe. He understands that we have to change things. We decided on a completely different program for next year.”

In other words, Gilbert’s answer that his training is “pretty much the same” is wildly incorrect.